Lio Piccolo has been the focus of new archaeological investigations. An extraordinary exhibition will open on September, 21st.
New underwater archaeological investigations were carried out in July by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. The team, led by Professor Carlo Beltrame, with the collaboration of Dr Elisa Costa, returned to explore the submerged site along the Rigà canal, where in 2021 an oyster tank dating back to the 1st century AD was discovered, probably part of a Roman villa. The structure, located more than three metres below the current sea level, has already yielded valuable clues about the past: hundreds of fragments of frescoes and an agate gem engraved with a mythological figure.
THE NEW EXHIBITION
Creating the lagoon, creating in the lagoon: communities and resources between Lio Piccolo and Altino. This is the new exhibition that will open on the 21st of September at the village exhibition centre. It will be open until the 29th of March 2026 every Saturday, Sunday and public holiday, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 3 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. The exhibition recounts how the lagoon, an amphibious environment in constant transformation, has been a place of settlement and exploitation of natural resources over the centuries, from salt production to fishing, from Roman times to the modern era. The focus is precisely on “creating in the lagoon”: a blend of archaeology, history, tradition, memory and territorial identity.
In conjunction with the exhibition, archaeologists will begin their fourth excavation campaign in the area of the so-called Villa del Sale, located behind the Le Saline farmhouse, which will continue until October 19th. Ca’ Foscari University will organise guided tours and “Archaeological Aperitifs”.